


Sibley

by Miershooptier



Series: Bodies in Orbit [2]
Category: Numb3rs (TV)
Genre: AU, Getting Together, M/M, Sex, Swearing, discussion of previous dubious consent, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:22:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19476772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miershooptier/pseuds/Miershooptier
Summary: Well before the events of Elegant, Charlie and Ian start to get to know each other better.  Set during/after S2E9, “Toxin.”I don’t own any characters you recognize, I just like to push their faces together and make kissy noises.





	1. Chapter 1

Ian Edgerton sat at a table in the covered patio of the hotel bar and restaurant, seemingly oblivious to the hard glances he was getting from the good old boys at the bar counter. He should have been a familiar face to them by now, he certainly remembered seeing them at the bar often enough during his time in Sibley so far – and Jesus, it was barely ten in the morning. Didn’t any of them have jobs they needed to get to? 

McHugh had proven to be a wily one – Ian was used to long hunts but that was more often the case with fugitives who were trying to cover ground. It was unusual for Ian to have to spend so much time on a hunt in such a relatively confined area.

“Top you off, hon?” Asked the waitress, holding a half-empty pot of coffee.

“Please.” Ian nudged his ‘Run Free, McHugh’ mug over so that she wouldn’t have to reach as far. She gave him a smile and bustled off to the bar. Ian had learned from experience that good tips made good friends, and that people tended to talk more to and around service workers than they ever did to FBI agents. It didn’t hurt to have a friendly – or at least neutral – ear to the ground.

He saw a black SUV pull into the parking lot and took a long, final sip from his mug, even though the coffee was still slightly too hot. He was anxious to get started for the day, even though he knew that it was likely to be more of the same – he’d come across McHugh’s trail, follow it, lose it, and then it would be hours before he found it again. 

Two familiar figures got out of the vehicle and started up the stairs to the patio. Ian got up to meet them, a genuine smile on his face. “Professor and Agent Eppes, how could I not learn something today?” He held out a hand in greeting.

Don grinned and took it. “Actually we came to sit in your classroom, if that’s all right.” Ian turned and shook hands with Charlie, who smiled but said nothing. The last time they’d seen each other, Charlie had almost had his head taken off by a competent amateur sniper, a serial case. Ian had taken his own shot to neutralize the threat, able to pinpoint the guy’s perch because of all the shooting. 

“Absolutely,” Ian said. “Let me get you up to speed.”

01101110 01110101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110011 0001010

When Don had called to say that he and Charlie wanted to shadow Ian while tracking, mentioning something about bridges and grid theory, Ian had been skeptical. There was plenty of math involved in precision shooting, although Ian put just as much if not more emphasis on the physical skill required to accurately hit targets at long distances, but tracking was something else entirely. Still, that time he’d spent working the serial sniper case in L.A. was something that he looked back on…not fondly, exactly, but it had been a pleasure working with Don’s team, and a unique experience working with a mathematician as a consultant. Especially this mathematician.

Ambling through the woods in Sibley, Ian talked through his “methodology”, as Charlie put it, though he couldn’t resist poking a little fun at the math professor as they went. Charlie’s head was constantly turning in every direction, just as often looking up to the tree tops as he was looking at the ground. Don had to nudge him several times when his pace would slow, his attention caught by something while he fell behind. Every so often Charlie would scribble notes in his notebook and consult a map. 

Ian had to admit, though, that Charlie was paying close attention every time he pointed something out or described his process. The mathematician was a puzzle, a strange combination of intense focus and apparent absentmindedness, and that intrigued Ian. 

Since they’d encountered no fresh sign after hours of hiking, Ian slowed his pace and called a break for lunch. The three of them settled on a fallen tree close to a small mountain stream. Don pulled some granola bars and a bottle of water out of his pack, but Charlie sat and started untying his hiking boots. After stripping off his socks as well, he carefully picked his way over to the stream and sat somewhat precariously on a large rock at the edge, letting his feet dangle in the water. 

“Hot spots,” he said with a shrug when he saw Ian looking at him. “These are new boots, I hadn’t had a chance to break them in yet and my old pair are completely worn out.”

Ian finished chewing through a piece of jerky. “You didn’t say anything. You okay to keep going?”

“Oh yeah, honestly I didn’t really start feeling them until just a little while ago. I’ve got some moleskin with me, it’s not a problem. Besides, this feels nice.” Charlie turned away to watch the water, observing the flow and occasionally tossing in a few pebbles.

Ian checked his watch, then his rifle, making sure that it was secure and within reach. He pulled a small pad and pencil case out his own back pack, flipped to a blank page, and started sketching. He could hear Don and Charlie talking quietly amongst themselves, discussing their rogue chemist Mark Braut and his possible motivations for trying to get in contact with McHugh.

He became aware of someone looking over his shoulder. 

“That’s beautiful,” Charlie said admiringly. “You’ve got a real talent for capturing detail. I’ve seen those birds but I’m not sure what species they are.”

Ian instinctively covered his sketch with a hand, then shook himself and pushed the pad closer so that Charlie could see it more clearly. “It’s a treecreeper. We get them as far north as Alaska.”

“You’re from Alaska?”

“More or less, although I haven’t lived there in decades. Still have some family there, though.” Ian flipped the pad closed and put it away. “We should probably get moving again.”

Charlie nodded and step-hopped his way back to the tree, trying to keep his wet feet from getting too dirty. He pulled off his fleece jacket and used it to thoroughly dry his feet, then applied some small moleskin patches to both heels and another to the outside ridge of one foot. Don pushed a granola bar into his hands after he’d replaced his socks and boots. “Eat this, Charlie, we’ve still got a while to go.”

“Oh right,” Charlie grinned. “I forgot.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Tell me more about that negotiation thing, Professor,” Ian said, gesturing with his beer bottle.

Charlie’s eyes lit up. Or maybe that was the light strings that decorated the restaurant patio. Ian shook his head irritably. What did he care about Charlie’s eyes?

“I don’t even know where to start,” he said, waving his hands. “What I scratched out in the dirt was just surface-level stuff. Game theory is foundational to negotiation theory, I give lectures on game theory at CalSci. You see, assuming rational decision-makers, we can actually use math to model interactions. It’s actually used quite a bit in computer science, as well as in social sciences. Negotiation theory includes structural analysis, which examines the distribution of elements of empowerment between two parties. Structure informs the negotiation. For the simple stuff, anyway.” Charlie laughed.

“Simple?” Ian smirked. “I’m not sure I understood what you just said. I know you were speaking English, I know what all of those words mean, but I’m still fuzzy on the concept.”

Charlie grabbed a napkin and took the pen out of the check holder that the waitress hadn’t yet picked up from the table.

“Oh here we go,” Don groaned. “Ian, did you have to get him started?”

“I’m curious.” Ian shrugged.

“Okay, remember that I said ‘rational decision-makers.’ To get the concept across, we’re going to assume complete rationality and total honesty from our two parties, right? No bad-faith negotiation. This is best applied in theory rather than to specific human interactions, because there’s a huge spectrum of ways in which humans act irrationally and against their own interests, which doesn’t really work for us here.“ Charlie drew a matrix on the napkin.

“We’ll limit ourselves to two options, okay? Our two parties can cooperate, or they can defect. We’ll note that with the letters C and D. Now, cooperation usually advances the well-being of both parties, but there are factors that often make cooperation seem like the weaker strategy. Like with McHugh, you were concerned that sharing information would weaken our position while strengthening his, an uneven exchange for us. But look here.” Charlie quickly jotted down some elements and filled in the squares on the matrix with Cs and Ds. “What we found was that by cooperating with McHugh, we basically incentivized his cooperation in return, right? People often call this tit-for-tat, although they don’t typically recognize it as negotiation theory. And this is only one aspect of negotiation theory, remember it’s a huge area of study with wide-ranging real-world applications.”

“That’s it?” Ian was surprised. “That sounds a lot like some of the interrogation tactics that are taught at Quantico.”

“Hey, everything is math! We use math to describe the world and explain how things work, to the best of our ability. This is why I hold my ‘Math for Dummies’ seminar for interested members of the public, so that they can see how much they actually do use mathematical concepts in their daily lives. I hate that title, though.” Charlie made a face. “The dean picked it, he thought it would make the content more appealing to the intended audience, though how people are enticed by being called ‘dummies’ I just don’t understand.” He was rambling.

Ian was fascinated. He remembered being slightly put off at first by Charlie’s enthusiastic explanation of his work on the serial sniper case, which is why he’d given the mathematician a little bit of a hard time. But he was starting to see differently – Charlie wasn’t lecturing a room full of idiots. He was trying to cross a divide, to open people’s minds. It was true that he came off as condescending occasionally, but Ian knew a lot of experts who oozed condescension and didn’t have half the CV to justify it that Charlie did.

Don’s phone rang, and he answered it quickly. “Eppes.” The agent’s face visibly relaxed. “So no problems, then? Okay, try to lose his paperwork for the night. I don’t want anyone from Graybridge trying to get in contact with him, and that will be easier if he stays in our custody. All right. Thanks, Megan, I’ll be back in the office tomorrow. You just defer all questions to me if anyone gives you any trouble.” He ended the phone call and sighed.

“Well, I’m beat,” Don said, tipping his head back to finish off his beer. “I’m going to hit the sack. You coming, Charlie?”

“I’m not tired,” Charlie said. “I think I’ll stay out here for a while.”

Don shrugged. “Just don’t make so much of a racket when you turn in, buddy, I need my beauty rest.”

“Goodnight, Don.” Charlie rolled his eyes.

Ian nodded at Don as the agent got to his feet, strangely pleased at the opportunity to continue the conversation with Charlie alone. Well, as alone as a bar full of people allowed one to be.

“It’s not like I’ll be sleeping much tonight anyway,” Charlie confided in Ian. “He snores like you wouldn’t believe. I might as well sleep out here, seriously. He’s like a chainsaw.”

Ian barked a laugh, and Charlie grinned. “I know, considering this –“ Charlie turned to the side to show Ian his profile and ran a finger down the bridge of his nose. “You’d think I would be the one who snores.”

“It suits you,” Ian said without thinking, and Charlie glanced at him in surprise, going quiet.

“You spotted that lie pretty quickly today, when we were at McHugh’s ranch,” Ian said, trying to get the conversation moving again. “You didn’t even have to do any math.”

Charlie laughed. “I do math all the time, a lot of it’s in my head already. But it wasn’t only that, I took your advice and made Don show me how to shoot a rifle.”

“Really?” Ian was truly surprised. Charlie had made his feelings on firearms pretty clear when they’d worked together previously.

“Yeah, it was fascinating. I can see why you said that snipers love what they do, it was pretty satisfying, hitting the target. Although I – never mind.” Charlie said, dropping his eyes.

“What?” Ian prompted. 

Charlie fiddled with the napkin, still not meeting Ian’s eyes. “I was going to say that I couldn’t imagine aiming at a person, but I didn’t want you to feel like I was judging you – I’m not.”

“Charlie, if more people felt the same way you do, I’d have a lot less work to do. And that would be a good thing.” Ian said, instinctively moving his hand across the table, but stopping short of touching him.

Charlie gave him a brief smile. “I’m going to get another beer.” He got up from the table and headed toward the bar, and Ian caught himself eyeing the mathematician’s ass as he walked away.

It was a nice night, Ian decided as a cool breeze blew pleasantly through the patio area. But his good feeling evaporated as three of the bar regulars approached the table. Ian kept his outward demeanor calm, but he tensed, his eyes sweeping the rest of the patio for any other potential threats before coming back to rest on the good old boys.

“Evening,” he said politely, taking a sip of his beer.

“Heard you feds finally got your hands on Bob McHugh today,” said one of the men, a burly, beer-bellied gentleman wearing an ‘I hid McHugh’ T-shirt.

“That’s right.”

“Typical government tyranny,” another one of them growled. “Goin’ around persecutin’ an honest man tryin’ to make an honest living.”

“I can’t comment on an active investigation,” Ian said coolly.

“What investigation? This was a frame-up, plain and simple!” The third man took a step forward, and Ian surreptitiously inched his hand down to his ankle holster.

“You guys are from Sibley?” Asked a cheerful voice. The men whirled to find Charlie standing behind them, holding a beer. “I love coming up here, you guys have the best hiking trails. It’s really lucky that the FBI managed to keep anything in that National Guard munitions dump from blowing up – with the time of year and the drought, a big wildfire would have been an absolute certainty. Right, agent?” Charlie nodded at Ian, who nodded back automatically. “Plus McHugh surrendered himself and came in alive, that’s something to celebrate. Can I get you guys a beer?”

The three locals looked at each other and then at Ian, bemused. The first one coughed. “Ah, no thanks, kid. We’d better be getting on our way.”

Charlie gave them a friendly nod and sat back down at the table, and once again Ian had to revise his assessment of Professor Charles Eppes. It wasn’t clear whether Charlie really understood what he’d helped to de-escalate. Charlie caught him looking and winked. 

Ian shook himself. “You said Don took you shooting?”

“I mean, I really had to talk him into it,” Charlie said. “But I don’t know that I’d go again.”

“Maybe you’d consider coming with me,” Ian offered. “I’m the lead instructor at Quantico, so I don’t work directly with beginners much anymore, but I could make an exception. When I’m in L.A. again.”

There was silence as Charlie studied him from across the table, and Ian was surprised to find himself trying to fight off a feeling of embarrassment. What the hell was wrong with him? Then Ian had a thought – it had been a while since he’d hooked up with anyone, and Charlie was here and attractive, in a math-professor-y sort of way.

That was it. If Charlie were willing, then Ian would get him out of his system and move on.

“I think the bar is going to be closing soon,” Ian said, checking his watch. “What do you say we take these to my –“

“Sure,” Charlie said, smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

Ian gestured for Charlie to take a seat in one of the chairs next to the small desk in his hotel room, taking a minute to conduct a quick scan of the room and double-check that his rifle was still in its soft case under the bed. It was a years-long habit by now – Ian never took hotel security for granted. Ian stood up from his check and sat on the bed, taking a sip from his beer. 

“You’ve been hiking here in Sibley before?” Ian asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here before, both by myself and a couple of times with the CalSci geology department – they’ll often do some field work up here. There’s a lot of evidence of volcanic activity, which makes it a great place for Dr. Sorenson’s volcanology class. How about you? Do you hike for fun or is it always chasing bad guys?” 

Ian chuckled. “You know, I think it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on a real backpacking trip or even a day hike. When I’m not at Quantico I’m out in the field, and I guess a lot of the time it all kind of blends together.”

Charlie set his beer bottle down on the desk. It was still mostly full. “Look, I – “ He started, his face coloring slightly. He looked down at the floor. “I’m not…great at reading certain kinds of signals, so I just want to know for sure. Did you invite me to your room so we could have sex?”

“That’s a pretty direct question, Professor.” Ian smirked.

“You didn’t say no,” Charlie said with a grin. Then his expression grew slightly worried. “You’re not going to say no, are you?”

Charmed – there was no other word for it – by that show of vulnerability, Ian decided that this was the point where actions spoke louder than words. He got up, setting his own beer bottle down on the nightstand, and crossed the room to stand in front of Charlie. Charlie looked up at him with wide dark eyes, lips slightly parted. Ian leaned down and kissed him, cupping the back of his head, unable to resist burying his fingers in that thick, curly hair.

Ian felt a tentative touch as Charlie reached out to slide his hand up Ian’s arm, gripping slightly at Ian’s elbow. Ian grinned against Charlie’s mouth. “Go on, Professor. I won’t bite.”

Charlie grinned back, pulling away and looking up at Ian. “Maybe not, but I might.” He grabbed Ian’s shirt collar in one hand and drew him close in an insistent kiss, and Ian took that as an invitation to ramp things up. He wrapped his arms around the smaller man and easily pulled him to his feet, stumbling them over a few steps so that he could pin Charlie against the wall. He pressed his thigh between Charlie’s legs, experiencing a small thrill of satisfaction when he felt the hardness there. Charlie’s hands were busy, sliding up Ian’s chest and mapping out his musculature, his thumbs brushing over Ian’s nipples until they grew firm. Then one of Charlie’s hands slid lower, traveling down Ian’s stomach to his groin, rubbing against his erection.

Ian bit back a groan and broke off the kiss. “This is just for tonight, Professor.”

Charlie panted and leaned back against the wall, nodding his head. “Don’t tell Don.”

Ian snickered. “I don’t have a death wish, Charlie.”

“Good, because he’d definitely kill us both.” Charlie wrapped one hand around Ian’s neck and pulled him down so that he could nuzzle Ian’s ear, licking and nipping gently. His other hand was fumbling at the button of Ian’s jeans. That seemed like a great idea to Ian, and he used both hands to unbutton Charlie’s jeans and pull down the zipper. Charlie’s body jerked when Ian slid a hand inside the mathematician’s boxers and curled his fingers around his cock. Charlie moaned into Ian’s neck and pressed his hips forward.

With a low chuckle, Ian turned his face into Charlie’s hair, inhaling deeply. “Let’s get naked.”

The two of them shed clothes and nearly tripped over each other while making their way to the bed, reluctant to break contact for more than a few seconds. Ian was surprised when Charlie backed him up against the bed and pushed him into a sitting position, but he went with it, curious to see what would happen.

Charlie just studied him for a moment, scanning every inch of Ian’s lean, muscled body with his eyes. “Wow. You’re beautiful.” 

Ian saw Charlie glance down and wrap his arms around himself, biting his lip self-consciously. Charlie had a lot more body hair than Ian, and he was soft around the middle. Ian reached out and grasped Charlie’s hips, bringing him in close. “You’re not so bad yourself, Professor.”

Some of the tension left Charlie’s face, and he smiled. He leaned down slightly, kissing Ian softly and placing his hands on Ian’s thighs, moving them slowly up and down. Ian was so absorbed in the feeling of Charlie’s caresses that he only noticed that the mathematician was getting to his knees when Charlie’s lips left his, and then Charlie’s hand was on his cock, working him slowly but firmly before flicking out his tongue to taste.

“Fuck!” Ian groaned as Charlie took him in his mouth. Charlie was a tease, keeping the movements of his lips and tongue light and soft. Again, Ian couldn’t resist that curly dark hair, and he started to run his fingers through it, gently pushing back so that he could see Charlie’s eyes. A glimpse was all he got, a quick flash of dark eyes before Charlie resolutely turned all of his attention to Ian’s cock. Okay, so Charlie was a little shy in bed. Ian deliberately shoved thoughts of how he might encourage Charlie to overcome his shyness in the future out of his head. This was a one-time thing.

When Charlie rose up to kiss him again, Ian decided it was time for him to take the lead. Pulling Charlie close and swallowing his surprised grunt, Ian leaned back onto the bed and rolled them over so that he was covering Charlie’s body with his, pushing his hips down to grind their erections together. Ian let his hands explore, touching and kneading and caressing, smirking in satisfaction every time he got Charlie to make a noise. Charlie was coming apart beneath him and he was enjoying himself immensely – who knew an academic would be so deliciously responsive?

“Hold that thought, Professor,” Ian said, a little breathlessly. He got up and rummaged around in his duffle bag for a condom and a small bottle of lube, then returned to join Charlie on the bed, nudging the mathematician’s legs apart with his knee.

“Um, wait a second, please!” Charlie gasped, clinging to Ian’s shoulders.

Ian frowned. “Sorry, I’m usually a pretty good judge of these things. I’m not really into being topped, Professor, but I’m perfectly fine with doing other things tonight.”

“No, no that’s not it,” Charlie said quickly, rising up to kiss Ian reassuringly.

“You’ve…you’ve done this before, right?” Ian started to feel a little alarmed. 

“Yes. Once. With a guy in my graduating class at Princeton, only…only he wasn’t, um, wasn’t really patient with me and I didn’t enjoy it much. It hurt more than it felt good, actually.”

Ian withdrew his knee and propped himself up on an elbow to look at Charlie, studying his face. He remembered Don saying something about how he and Charlie graduated high school together, that Charlie had skipped quite a few grades. “How old were you?”

“Eighteen.” Charlie’s eyes dropped down and he focused on a point on the wall behind Ian.

Ian deliberately moved to be back in Charlie’s line of sight. “Professor. Good-faith negotiations require total honesty, isn’t that what you said?”

Charlie’s face colored. “Okay, I was sixteen. I know how that sounds, but it was consensual.”

Much to his surprise, Ian felt like growling. “How old was he?”

Charlie looked away again. “Twenty-two.”

“What a prick.” This time Ian did growl. He resisted the urge to ask Charlie what the guy’s name was. What would he do about it, anyway? 

“You’re not wrong,” Charlie said, trying to laugh. “Sorry, I think I may have just killed the mood. I can go if you want…” He shifted as if he were going to get up.

Ian interrupted him, tightening his grip. “I’m more interested in what _you_ want, Charlie. We don’t have to do this, but I’m not kicking you out of bed, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I – I do want this. If _you_ want. I only wanted to ask you to…to go slow. Please?” Charlie’s gaze was fixed on his fingers, as he was running them along Ian’s jaw and then his collarbone. 

“Hey.” Ian took Charlie’s chin in his hand to get his full attention. “Telling me what you need, and me respecting what you need, that’s the bare fucking minimum, all right? Don’t feel like you have to apologize for that. I’m happy to take this slow – I’ve got all night, Professor.” Ian grinned. “You just say the word if you want to stop at any point, okay?”

Charlie nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay.”

“Have you done anything since then? You know, like with toys or fingers?”

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded again, this time with a small smile. “I think it’s more of a mental thing, you know?”

“I can work with that,” Ian purred, and renewed his exploration of Charlie’s body, this time with his lips and tongue as well as his hands. He gave Charlie’s cock a few languid strokes, encouraging it back to a full erection before allowing his hand to drift further down between the mathematician’s legs. He let his hand rest in the cleft of Charlie’s ass, just letting him get used to being touched there. Charlie seemed as though he had returned to his previous level of enthusiasm, moaning appreciatively.

“Turn over for me,” Ian said softly, and Charlie did, not waiting for Ian to have to tell him to grab a pillow to shove under his hips. 

Ian generously lubed up his fingers, rubbing one fingertip in small circles against the tight pucker between Charlie’s cheeks. He felt Charlie’s body stiffen slightly, and he took the smaller man’s lips and tongue into a deep kiss, intentionally drawing his attention elsewhere. Charlie gasped as he felt Ian’s first finger press into him, but he continued kissing Ian with barely a pause. Ian took his time, slowly working just one finger in and out until Charlie started to push against him. Another finger allowed Ian to start to go deeper, though he kept his movements slow and controlled. When he started to twist them, Charlie shifted, gathering fistfuls of the bedspread in his clenched hands. 

When Ian brushed Charlie’s prostate with his fingers, he jerked and yelped and would have come up to his knees if Ian hadn’t had a hand pressed firmly on the small of his back. “Good, Professor?”

“Ah…ah…really good,” panted Charlie in a strangled tone. “Keep going!”

Ian landed a kiss on Charlie’s shoulder and added a third finger, starting to spread them slightly to stretch Charlie’s rim even further. He relished the way Charlie’s hips were twitching back, and couldn’t resist another firm nudge against Charlie’s prostate. The way the mathematician responded with a sharp groan that was almost a scream made Ian’s cock even harder.

“You ready for me?” Ian whispered into Charlie’s ear. 

Charlie shuddered. “Oh god _, yes.”_

Withdrawing his fingers – and smiling slightly when the action elicited another groan – Ian tore open the condom wrapper and rolled it on, slicking himself with plenty of additional lube. He lined himself up and slowly pushed past the slight resistance at Charlie’s rim, working himself in and out, pushing himself further in each time until he bottomed out, his hips flush against Charlie’s ass. He paused, letting Charlie adjust for a moment and marveling at the feel of Charlie’s tight heat squeezing his cock.

He must have paused for too long, because Charlie shoved his hips back against him. Ian chuckled. “Pushy.” He started to move, though, rolling his hips at first and then increasing the intensity of his thrusts. He could feel Charlie quivering beneath him, heard his moans and gasps, and he batted Charlie’s hand away as he reached to touch himself. _“Wait.”_

Charlie groaned in response but obeyed, taking hold of the bedspread again, his knuckles going white with the intensity of his grip. Ian pulled him up higher, adjusting his angle so that his thrusts were sliding against Charlie’s prostate each time. Charlie keened and went down on his elbows, bracing himself against the mattress as Ian kept pounding into him. 

Ian heard Charlie gasp, a harsh intake of breath, and then felt Charlie clench down on him. Ian cursed and came, taken by surprise and not quite ready for it, his hips stuttering as he lost his rhythm. He shoved deep into Charlie one final time, waiting to come down a little from his unexpectedly-timed orgasm before pulling out and falling next to Charlie on the bed. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, fighting to get himself back under control. He felt Charlie’s lips on his, giving him an uncoordinated and sloppy kiss before sensing Charlie’s weight leaving the bed. He cracked an eye open, seeing Charlie wobble unsteadily into the bathroom.

Getting itchy, Ian removed the condom and felt around the bed for the wrapper, tossing both in the wastebasket next to the desk. A warm, wet washcloth landed on his stomach, and he leaned up to see Charlie using another cloth to wipe down the bedspread as best as he could manage. “It’s a good thing you have another pillow, because, um, I kind of made a mess of this one.”

“Just strip the pillowcase and leave it on the floor. That way housekeeping will know that it definitely needs to be cleaned.” Ian grinned, lazily cleaning himself up before balling up the washcloth and tossing it expertly so that it landed in the bathroom sink across the room.

Charlie joined him on the bed, throwing an arm across Ian’s chest and snuggling up close. “That’s never happened to me before, you know, just coming like that. I’m going to be feeling this for a while.”

Ian felt a ridiculous amount of satisfaction, hearing that. “Happy to help, Professor.” He stroked Charlie’s arm for a moment. “You can stay if you’d like, but I’m heading out early.”

“And risk Don witnessing my walk of shame? Thanks, but no.” Charlie planted a few kisses on Ian’s jaw. “Seriously, thanks. That was really good.”

“Likewise.”

The bed felt empty when Charlie got up to gather his clothes, which had been scattered around the room along with Ian’s. Ian watched the math professor dress, suddenly feeling the awkwardness of the post-hook-up goodbye. Charlie seemed to feel it, too, as he fiddled with his jacket and checked all of his pockets to make sure he had everything.

“Were you serious?”

Ian started, brought out of his deliberation on what to say by Charlie’s question. “Serious about what?”

“About showing me how to shoot, when you come back to L.A. sometime.”

“That? Of course, I’d be happy to, if I have the time.” Ian kicked himself when he saw Charlie’s face fall slightly at the qualification, he’d only meant that being back in L.A. would mean being on a case, which wouldn’t leave a lot of downtime. But he somehow couldn’t muster up the words.

“Then I guess I’ll see you around sometime.” Charlie smiled, but Ian could tell that it wasn’t the full, genuine smile he was so free with when talking about numbers. Charlie opened the door, pausing for just a second before leaving the room. “Bye, Ian.” 

Ian got up, ripping the bedspread off the bed with more force than necessary before settling himself between the sheets and turning off the bedside lamp. He was disconcerted. Usually the only thing he wanted after sex was sleep, but for some reason he found himself lying awake, staring at the ceiling.


	4. Chapter 4

The only advantage to waking up at what felt like an ungodly hour, Charlie thought, was that he might be able to give Ian a less awkward goodbye. But when he and Don brought their bags out to the gravel parking lot of the hotel, Charlie could see that Ian’s rental was already gone. He chided himself for being stupid – hadn’t Ian said he would be heading out early? And they had both agreed, what they had together was just for last night. It was pointless for Charlie to feel like he had to fix something that didn’t need fixing. Because it wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t.

Charlie could feel Don glancing at him periodically during the drive back to L.A., even though he did his best to keep up with the conversation normally. As much as he could be normal, at least. He shifted, trying to adjust the seatbelt where it had tightened across his shoulder, and smiled at the slight ache he felt in his lower body. It was a good ache, like the kind of ache he got after pushing himself on a strenuous hike. The view from the top was always worth it, he told himself.

“Charlie?”

“What? Sorry, what?” Charlie turned to look at Don, aware now that he’d been asked a question. Don pursed his lips, a slight frown on his face.

“Charlie, I’ve got to go into the office to finish up with McHugh. Do you want to come with? I could always drop you off at home…”

Charlie smiled. Don still called the Craftsman ‘home,’ and he hoped his brother always would. But it was far out of his way, especially with the traffic at this time of day. “If you could drop me at CalSci, I’d appreciate it. I’ve got to look over the midterms that the TAs graded for me before I hand them back to my students tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Don grinned.

01101110 01110101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 01110011 0001010

Charlie started to feel better as he walked through the open-air hallways of the CalSci math and science complex. This was where he belonged. He knew what to do here, and the people here understood the work he did. He fumbled with his keys, trying to find the one for his office while his backpack and duffle bag dragged on his arms. 

The graded midterms were on his desk, and Charlie made himself sit down and start going through them, ignoring the half-finished notions adorning the blackboards around his office. If he started working on his blackboards he knew the midterms would go untouched.

“Hey, Charlie!” 

Charlie looked up, placing his finger on the page of one midterm so that he wouldn’t lose his place. Amita stood in the doorway, clutching a few textbooks and trying to keep the strap of her satchel from falling down her shoulder.

“Hey!” Charlie smiled.

“Did you catch that guy?” Amita unceremoniously dumped the textbooks on the floor next to a chair by Charlie’s desk, flinging herself into it with a sigh.

“Yeah, well, kind of. I mean, the FBI found him and he surrendered himself, which is good. I developed a Steiner tree to help predict the intersections of his most likely paths.”

“Really?” Amita was interested. “Euclidean or rectilinear?”

“Rectilinear made the most sense for the type of terrain we were dealing with,” Charlie said. “Here, I can show you.” He rummaged in his backpack for his notebook and the maps he had used when they were first shadowing Ian’s tracking methodology.

“Here’s the tree itself.” Charlie spread the map on the desk. “You can see these locations he frequented, and the paths that he took to reach them. Not exactly linear, right? So what I did was this.”

Charlie flipped through the pages in his notebook, searching for the graphs he’d drawn for his analysis, then stilled, his fingers curling gently around a loose piece of paper.

“Hey, are you okay? What is that?”

“It’s um, it’s called a treecreeper.” Charlie swallowed, holding the drawing out so that Amita could see. “I – a friend drew it, I didn’t know that he’d…given it to me. We saw some of those birds up in Sibley.”

“It’s amazing.” Amita admired the contrast of the white and dark spots on the bird’s wings and back, the delicate way the beak curved slightly. 

“Yeah,” Charlie grinned suddenly. “Hey, you want to grab some lunch with me in the cafeteria? I know it’s a little late, but I didn’t eat before and I’m starving.”

“Sure. Do you mind if I leave these here on the floor? Maybe forever?” Amita gestured at the textbooks.

Charlie laughed. “You know, they go well with the rest of my office décor. Just give me a sec.” He stood and turned to the blackboard behind his desk, then carefully hung the drawing from the sliding paper holders at the top of the board. He gazed at it for a moment and then started gathering the pile of remaining midterms in his arms. “Come on, let’s go.”


End file.
